How to use Rufus to create bootable Windows 11 USB

<!–

–>

Rufus is a free tool that you can use to easily create a bootable USB flash drive to upgrade or clean install Windows 11. The tool works similar to the Media Creation Tool, and you can provide an existing ISO file or there’s an option to download the files directly from the Microsoft servers.

Unlike the Microsoft solution, Rufus not only allows you to create a USB installation media, but it does it faster, and you can even prepare a USB drive with an older version of Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. 

In this guide, you will learn the steps to use Rufus to download the ISO file and create a bootable media to install Windows 11 from scratch.

Use Rufus to create bootable Windows 11 USB with ISO download

To use Rufus to download the Windows 11 ISO file and create a bootable media, connect a USB flash drive with 8GB of space, and then use these steps:

1. Open Rufus website.

2. Under the “Download” section, click the link to download the latest version.

3. Double-click the executable to launch the tool.

4. Click the Settings button (third button from the left) a the bottom of the page.

   

   Rufus enable ISO download

5. Under the “Settings” section, use the “Check for updates” drop-down menu and select the Daily option.

   

   Rufus enable updates

6. Click the Close button.

7. Click the Close button again.

8. Open Rufus again.

9. (Optional) Under the “Device” section, use the drop-down menu and select the USB drive to create the installation media.

10. Under the “Boot selection” section, use the drop-down menu and select the Disk or ISO image option.

11. Click the down-arrow button (on the right side) and select the Download option.

    

    Rufus ISO download

12. Click the Download button.

13. Select the Windows 11 option.

14. Click the Continue button.

15. Under the “Release” section, select the 21H2 (Build 22000.194 – 2021.10) option to select Windows 11.

16. Click the Continue button.

17. Select the Windows 11 Home/Pro option.

18. Click the Continue button.

    .Windows_Software_Technology-Big-343 { display:inline-block; width: 300px; height: 600px; } @media(min-width: 500px) { .Windows_Software_Technology-Big-343 { width: 300px; height: 600px;} }

19. Select the language of Windows 11.

20. Click the Continue button.

21. Select the operating system architecture. (Windows 11 is only available in x64 architecture.)

22. Click the Download button.

23. Select the location to save the Windows 11 ISO file automatically.

24. (Optional) If you connected a USB flash drive to create a USB, continue with the default settings after the download.

25. Click the Start button.

26. Click the OK button.

Once you complete the steps, you can use the bootable USB flash drive to install Windows 11 using a clean or in-place upgrade installation.

Use Rufus to create bootable Windows 11 USB with existing ISO

To create a bootable USB with Rufus using an existing ISO file, use these steps:

1. Open Rufus’ website.

2. Under the “Download” section, click the link to download the latest version.

3. Double-click the rufus.3.xx.exe file to launch the tool.

4. Under the “Device” section, use the drop-down menu and select the USB flash drive to create the Windows 11 bootable media.

5. Under the “Boot selection” section, use the drop-down menu and select the Disk or ISO image option.

6. Click the Select button.

   

7. Select the Windows 11 ISO file.

   

8. Click the Open button.

9. Under the “Image option” section, select the Standard Windows Installation option.

10. Under the “Partition scheme” section, select the GPT option.

11. Under the “Target system” section, select the UEFI (non CSM) option.

12. Under the “Volume label” section, specify a descriptive name for the bootable USB drive – For example, Win11_Install_USB.

    

13. Use the default settings for the File system and Cluster size options.

14. Check the Quick format option.

15. Check the Create extended label and icon files option.

16. Click the Start button.

17. Click the OK button to confirm the deletion of the USB and the creation of the bootable drive.

After you complete the steps, the tool will begin the process to create a USB media with the Windows 11 installation media.